Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Section, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2018 Mar 28;13(3):e0193847. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193847. eCollection 2018.
British Culex pipiens complex [Culex pipiens sensu lato) mosquito distribution, abundance, and potential for disease transmission are intimately linked to their environment. Pond and lake dyes that block light to restrict algal photosynthesis are a relatively new product assumed to be an environmentally friendly since they are based on food dyes. Their use in urban garden ponds raises questions linked to mosquito oviposition, since coloured water can be an attractant. Culex (mostly pipiens) is commonly found in UK gardens and is a potential vector of viruses including the West Nile Virus (WNV). Any factors that significantly change the distribution and population of Cx pipiens could impact future risks of disease transmission. A gravid trap was used to catch female Cx pipiens mosquitoes for use in oviposition choice tests in laboratory and semi-field conditions. Two types of pond dye, blue and shadow (which looks slightly red), were tested for their impact on oviposition and survival of wild caught Cx pipiens. There were no significant differences in the number of egg batches laid when gravid mosquitoes were given a choice between either blue dye and clear water or shadow dye and clear water indicating that these dyes are not attractants. Larvae hatched from egg batches laid by wild-caught gravid females were used to measure survival to adulthood with or without dye, in a habitat controlled to prevent further colonisation. The experiment was run twice, once in the summer and again in the autumn, whereas the dyes had no impact on emergence in the summer, there were highly significant reductions in emergence of adults in both dye treated habitats in the autumn. Containers with or without shadow dye were placed outside to colonise naturally and were sampled weekly for larvae and pupae over a 6 month period through summer and autumn. There was a significant negative effect of shadow dye on pupal abundance in a three week period over the summer, but otherwise there was no effect. It is likely that population abundance and food was a more powerful factor for mosquito survival than the dye.
英国库蚊复合种（按广义的库蚊 sensu lato 定义）的蚊子分布、丰度及其潜在的疾病传播能力与其环境密切相关。池塘和湖泊染料可阻止光线进入，从而限制藻类光合作用，这是一种相对较新的产品，由于其基于食用染料，因此被认为是环保的。它们在城市花园池塘中的使用引发了与蚊子产卵有关的问题，因为彩色水可能是一种吸引力。库蚊（主要是 pipiens）在英国花园中很常见，是包括西尼罗河病毒（WNV）在内的多种病毒的潜在传播媒介。任何显著改变 pipiens 库蚊分布和种群的因素都可能影响未来疾病传播的风险。使用了一种诱捕器来捕获雌性 pipiens 库蚊，用于在实验室和半野外条件下进行产卵选择测试。测试了两种池塘染料，蓝色和阴影（略带红色），以研究它们对野生捕获的 pipiens 库蚊产卵和生存的影响。当给育肥的蚊子提供在蓝色染料和清水或阴影染料和清水之间进行选择的机会时，产卵批次的数量没有显著差异，这表明这些染料不是吸引剂。从野生捕获的育肥雌蚊产下的卵批中孵化的幼虫用于测量有无染料的情况下成虫的存活率，在控制栖息地以防止进一步定植的情况下进行。实验进行了两次，一次在夏季，一次在秋季，而在夏季，染料对成虫的出现没有影响，但在秋季，两个处理过的栖息地中，成虫的出现率都显著降低。有或没有阴影染料的容器被放置在外面自然定植，并在夏季和秋季的 6 个月期间每周进行幼虫和蛹的采样。在夏季的三周内，阴影染料对蛹的丰度有显著的负影响，但除此之外没有影响。可能是种群丰度和食物对蚊子的生存是比染料更重要的因素。
